Getting ready to race in June. Ran 12x300m tonight

12x300m with 100m walk recovery. 48,47,46,45,44,45,44,43,42,41.

Again rainy and cold conditions. Feeling lean and fast. I finally have a good
racing weight of 147 lbs at 5'10". I always feel a lot more efficient when I have
a little less dead weight to lug around. As I am approaching 40 years of age, I am looking forward to racing as a true master runner. Currently my workouts are similar to when I was fit to run about 4:10 for the mile. Hopefully with a good base this summer, I can hit a sub 4:10 indoor mile as a true master.

Easy 4 mile recovery run

Feeling a little tired, so I decided to take it easy on with 4 mile jog on cedar chips.

yesterday 8x400m in pouring rain

8x400 cut downs. Started with 66,63,62,62,61,60,60,61. Terrible windy and raining so hard it blinded me. I am getting so tired of this Oregon rain that I am considering a move to a warmer climate.

8 miles today on the nike campus

A good middle distance track workout

After taking 2 full rest days, I was able to come back with a solid track workout. I am reducing my volume from about 60 miles per week to about 40 with the addition of two high intensity track workouts.

1x800@ 2:12 in road racing shoes. I ran a little slower than current mile pace. This is also my 3000m PR pace.
400m jog recovery
1x600@ 1:30. This a little slower than current 800m race pace. This is also my 1500m PR pace.
400m jog recovery
1x400m @ 58. This is my current 800m race pace.
400m jog recovery
200m @ 27. This is a little slower than my current 400m race pace.
4x100m @ 12.5. This is a little faster than my current 400m race pace.

easy 6 mile run today

6 mile recovery run on soft surface.

1x mile @5:00 min and 8x300m

Started with a mile at exactly 5 minutes. Then a track session that consisted of 8x300m @ 46,46,46,46,45,45,43,43 seconds
Last 4 in spikes. About 150 meter walk/jog recovery.


Here is a link to some nutritional products that I am currently using. I highly recommend these supplements.
I have benefited greatly from taking these supplements. I have noticed greater recovery, less illness, higher
energy, and better sleep. These products have helped me to be ranked #1 in the in the sub-masters 800m run

Yesterday 40 minutes easy

Easy recovery day. 40 minutes easy run. 5x80 meter barefoot strides in the grass. 1 minute plank, 30 pullups, 50 situps. Lots of stretching.

6 miles today

Easy 2 mile warmup then 2 miles @ 5:50 pace over hills. Then easy two miles.
Just getting a little aerobic work in the day after an intense workout.

Drills and more drills

Mixing it up with a variety of drills. Ran about 1 mile worth of drills. Every 100 meters I alternated exercises.
4x50 knee high box jumps. 4x10 burpees, 4x10 pullups, 1x1 minute plank, 4x100m lunges,
4x100m skips, 4x100m butt kicks and finished with 5x100m @ 15 seconds.

Plyometrics for middle distance runners

I found a good article on the topic of plyometrics for middle distance runners.





https://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=152153291469705&topic=348

Track session 2x400m, 1x300m, 2x200m

2x400m @ 56,57 seconds with 2 laps jog , 1x300m @ 42 seconds, Finished with 2x200m @ 26 seconds. Ran workout in spikes. After a couple weeks of base training, my speed has suffered. I will probably need another month of speed work twice per week before I am race ready. I will also lower my mileage to about 35-40 miles per week in order to be a little more sharp. I will be ready to race in July when the weather hopefully warms up. I think this is the worst Spring weather I have ever experienced here in Portland. Today was 50 degrees F. Lactic acid seems to accumulate more when your legs are numb from the cold.

8 miles today easy

easy 8 mile recovery run on soft surface. Next track session will be 3x400m @ 55 seconds with 1 lap jog.

7x300m and 200m

Today I drove to McMinnville to help my Dad with some yard work. I shoveled and ripped a long section of the lawn for about 1 hour. This turned out to be a tough upper body workout. Later that evening, I stopped at the Duniway track and did 7X300m @ 46,46,46,46,43,42,42 and finished with a 200m @ 26 seconds in spikes. I had a 100m walk recovery. I am planning on racing an 800m in about 2 weeks so I am stepping up the track workouts a little. I had a rest day yesterday. I put in some mileage last week so I am trying to keep the fast twitch muscles active.

10 mile run yesterday

10 miles on the NIke campus. One more week of 10 miles/day and I will start hitting the track 2 times per week with some tough intervals. My goal is to do 8 X 400m with 90 seconds rest @ 60 seconds.

10 mile run today perfect weather

A relaxed 10 mile recovery run. Finally some nice Spring weather.

Keeping it rolling with 16x200m

Today was a solid day of training with a 4 mile warmup. 16x200 @ 31-32 with 200m jog recovery. My last two were 29,27 seconds. Total miles for today was 8. I was a bit tired from yesterday's 12 mile run. I'm trying to keep my fast twitch muscles from going dormant during some base training. The weather was perfect today. Its nice not to have to train in the dark thanks to daylight savings.

More wildlife drama

After running thousands of miles on the Nike campus, it's hard not to get familiar with the behavior of some of the local wildlife, not to mention runners, in this nature preserve. I have now had three encounters with a red tailed preying on the babies of a variety of animals. Last year, I saw it fly about ten feet over my head with a baby robin it talons. A few seconds behind it were two adult robins chasing after it while making what sounded like agitated and desperate calls.

A couple of weeks ago, I was observing a mother mallard with about 8 of its baby duckling following in a single file line when out of the blue, comes a red tailed hawk diving for a baby duckling. The duck was able to defend its babies by slamming into to the hawk while flapping its wings as if it was in ultimate fighting match. This all seemed like some sort of strange irony to see this happen on the grounds of the NIke world headquarters. Nike's founder Phil Knight, has donated millions to the University of Oregon athletic program who's mascot happens to be none other than a "duck".

Earlier today I yet another encounter with this cunning hawk. As I was running my second two mile loop, I noticed a gang of crows in a nearby tree. I could see that they were surrounding what looked like a large bird nest. The crows were unusually close to the trail since they are typically skittish. I figured the crows were raiding the nest so I felt obligated to scare them away. I went over and shook the tree by grabbing and pulling on a nearby branch. I was startled when a red tailed hawk flew out of the nest. Could this be the Hawk's nest, so low to the ground? I decided that the crime scene needed some more investigation before I could prove the hawk guilty again of being a baby killer. The trail is a two mile loop and I still had 4 more loops to go. On my second time around, I wanted to see if I could find the owner of the nest that was previously raided. To my surprise, I saw a very distraught squirrel defending the nest and chirping at me like I was the one who just committed the crime. I also gained some new respect for the intelligence of crows. The crows were obviously keeping a close watch on this hawk and maybe following it for potential left overs since they are scavengers by trade.

I have to give the hawk credit for being very resourceful what seems like a limited territory for a large bird of prey. It is also interesting to see a complete ecosystem that is sustaining a wide variety of native plants and animals. Not to mention, it is in the center of an industrial park.

In retrospect, I have learned that I cannot pass judgement on this seemingly evil hawk.
Theoretically, every time I eat a hamburger, I am no less immoral than a hawk, just a little more technologically advanced
in my animal protein consumption.

8 miles today on the NIke Campus 7:30 pace

I missed running yesterday due to a busy schedule. This morning I had some deep tissue massage work done on my legs and later ran 8 miles at an easy pace. I will be scheduling 1 massage per week to help with recovery and help prevent injury. The sports trainer I am working with, discovered a lot of problems that I need to get worked out.

10 miles @ 7:30 pace over hills

Another 10 miles on the NIke campus. Trying for 70 miles this week. Almost half way there.

8 mile run on the NIke Campus

8 miles on the Nike Campus. It is a bit challenging the day after a 12 miler. Also there are some
small rolling hills on this trail that make it a little more difficult.

12 mile run 7:20 pace

A nice easy run in perfect weather. My next two weeks are going to be high volume and less intensity.
I am not planning on racing until June. I don't like training only to enter track races in windy and rainy spring conditions. I would rather wait until some nice weather.